Grill for ventilating fans



Feb. 5, 1952 w, SPEAR 2,584,933

GRILL FOR VENTILATING FANS Filed Jan. 14, 195.0 2 SHEETS-SHEET 1 ATTJEAJ{XS Feb. 5, 1952 w, SPEAR 2,584,933

GRILL F03 YENTILATING FANS Filed Jan. 14, 1950 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2 .6 IINVENTOR.

fly My Lam Patented Feb. 5, 1952 GRILL, FOR VENTILATING FANS Walter A;Spear, Cincinnati," l1io, assignor to Nu'lone', Inc., Cincinnati, Ohio,a corporation Application January 14, 1950-, Serial No.138,605

(Cl. 98'I16) 4 Claims.

This invention relates to ventilating fans of the type-commonly used inkitchens for the purpose of "exhausting cooking odors, smoke and vaporsfrom-the room. The invention is directed particularly to an improvedconstruction of a grill which is installed at the interior ofthe roomover the fan entrance.

' Atypical ventilating fan of the type employed for household purposesconsists essentially of a sleeve or duct which is installed in anopening inthe wall so as to constitute an air passage, a-motor-driven'fan-mounted-within' the sleeve to'induce theflow of'air through it, alouvre arranged over the'duct passageway at the outside of the-buildingto prevent the entrance of rain throughthe opening-=when'the fan is notin use; and a grill over the air passageway at the inside of the room.In-normal operation the fan draws air fromthe room and discharges it tothe outside atmosphere, at the same time inducing the flow of fresh airinto the room from other various entrances. In this manner, the odorsand smoke of cooking are drawn from the room as they are liberated froma'stove, and are kept from permeating the entire household.

Cooking vapors and smoke are frequently laden with grease and othersubstances which become deposited on various portions of 'the ventilatorfan unit in the passage'of the exhaustair throughtheunit. After a periodof time the ventilating fan surfacesbecome coated with a greasy scumthat must be removed; orotherwise thednstallation-will become unsanitaryand will actually constitute a fire hazard. With a grill concealingthesleeve and fan unit of the-ventilator, the proper cleansing of theinstallation isa tedious and messy job which can beaccomplishedeiiectivelyinthe units now available only by complete removal of thegrill from'th'e wall.

""Theprincipal objective of this invention has been-to provide aventilator grill so constructed ass'to provide easy and convenientaccess to the interior surfaces of the ventilator'duct orsleeve andfanelements, and'tothe inside surfaces'of the grill-itself, in orderthat albmay properly be cleansed thoroughly and without'difliculty.further objective of the :invention has been to provide a grillconstruction-in whiclr" the-member-s" providing such accessibility alsoenable the construction of a' grill which is of'pleasing ap pearance,efiicient in respect to air flow, and

capable of functioning eflectively toprevent ac cidental contact of thehouseholder,- or of foreign objects with the whirling-fanbladesduring-nob ma-l usage ofthe apparatus.

We havedetermined that approximately of all the air moved by a fan ischannelled through the area at the central portion of the grill, justbeyond the dead center thereof; Inasmuch as this area is subjected tothe greatest air flow, it is likewise subjected to the greatestaccumulations of grease and dirt which must be removed from time totime. Briefly, this invention contemplates a grill for a ventilating fanconsisting essentially of a marginal portion adapted to residefaciallyagainst a room wall over the fan duct, and a centrallattice'work member extending across; the frame to constitute a guardfor the fan in normal service'thereof, butbeing detachable from theframe, at least'in part; so as to expose the interiorof the duct and thefan elements when they are to be cleaned. Thus, in accordance with thepresent invention, the central portion of the grill, coveringsubstantially that area which coincides withthe interior duct or sleeve,is demountable, or is hinged, so that it may be swung open or removedentirely to permit free access to the interior" fan parts and surfaces,and to permit convenient cleansing of the grill itself.

Typical constructions showlng'grills embodying this improvement aredisclosed in the accompanying drawings in which:

' Figure 1 is an elevation of the 'interiorside of a' ventilating fanequipped with a grill of the present invention.

Figure 2 is a cross-sectional view taken on the line 2-2 of Figure 1.

Figure'3 is a cross-sectional view taken onthe line 3-3 of'Figure' 2.

Figure 4 is an enlarged cross-sectional view similar to-Figure 2, butshowing portions of the movable and permanently mounted members of thegrill in engagement.

Figure 5 is a view similar to Figure 1- showing a modified form ofgrill;

Figure 6 is a cross-sectional viewtaken on the line 6-5of Figure 5; and

Figure '7 is a cross-sectional view taken on the line 1-! of Figure 5.

The elements of a ventilator fan, as typically constructed, are shownbest in Figure 2 and comprise'a wallsleeve 'lwhich is placed in an appropriate opening cut in the wall 2 of the building so asto provide an airpassageway between the room interiorand the outside atmosphere."Sometimes ventilating fans are installed in ceilings instead of sidewalls and the term wall'is intended to apply to either point ofinstallation in "this disclosure. "Theinside' surface of'the wall is 3indicated at 3. At the outside of the wall a louvre usually is provided,but since the louvre element forms no part of the present invention, itis not shown.

A bracket 4 is mounted in the sleeve l upon radial arms 5, and a fanmotor 6 rests on the bracket 4. The fan blade 1 is carried on the motorshaft, the axis of which coincides substantially with the longitudinalaxis of the sleeve. Rotation of the fan blades in the direction of thearrow on the blade causes air to flow through the sleeve as indicated.

It is inconvenient and expensive for the builder to provide a joint offinished, attractive appearance between the sleeve and wall at the roominterior; and, moreover, the sleeve opening must be covered to preventforeign objects from getting into the sleeve lest the fan blades bedamaged or injury be caused to the householder. common practice to placea grill, as indicated generally at 8, over the sleeve opening, both as aprotective barrier through which air may flow, and as a cover whichconceals the imperfections of the sleeve-wall joint and which finishesthe appearance of the installation.

Such grills, in accordance with the present invention, comprise amarginal frame 9 which may be in the form of a metal stamping, plasticmolding or diecasting, adapted to reside facially against the room wallto which it may be attached. In the construction shown in the drawings,the grill frame 9 comprises an outer marginal portion [0, and an annularbead H spaced inwardly therefrom, and preferably, though notnecessarily, residing in a plane offset from the rim In. Bead I Ipreferably is of semi-circular contour and the diameter of the openingit defines approximates the diameter of the sleeve l with which it isaligned.

To hold the frame 9 against a wall, it may be fastened in place by meansof screws extending through its face into the wall, or, for betterappearance, angle brackets I2 may extend inwardly from the interior ofthe bead portion H to reside against the inner surface at the sleeve towhich the brackets may be fastened by screws l3. Slots in the legs ofthe brackets, as in Figure 2, enable this mounting to be adjusted tosuit the conditions existing at various installations.

Across the opening bounded by the bead ll of the grill frame 9, aseparate lattice member, indicated generally at M, is installed. Thismember is comprised of ribs arranged in grill formation to constitute aprotective barrier, while the openings between the ribs permit air toflow through the lattice into the duct. In the unit shown, the latticecomprises several concentrical annular rings I5, which areinterconnected with radial arms 16 extending from a central hub I1. Thepattern of the lattice l4 may take many forms, the concentric ringpattern is disclosed for illustration purposes only.

The lattice l4, like the frame 9, may be a sheet metal stamping, plasticmolding, or diecasting. The semi-circular configuration of the ribs andarms provides appropriate stiffness, in conjunction with light weight.Arms l extend outwardly beyond the outermost grill ring l5, eitherradially or otherwise, into engagement with cavities forming seats inthe annular bead ll of frame 9. This is shown best in Figure 4 in whichthe annular bead II is pro- Therefore, it has always been vided withsmall recesses [8 which receive the endwise extremities of the radialarms I 6. By configurating the recesses 48 to the contours of the armextremities, no joints are visible when the two are in engagement, andthe lattice l4 visually appears as an integral part of the frame 9. Tohold the lattice M in place and yet provide for ready removability ofit, the hub I! may be bored centrally to receive a single fasteningscrew 20 which may pass into threaded engagement with any suitablestationary interior member. As shown in Figure 2, the screw 29 has itshead 2| bearing upon the outer face of the hub, while the inner end ofthe screw is in threaded engagement with a bracket 22 projectingupwardly from the motor bracket 4. To dismantle the lattice for cleaningpurposes, the screw is removed and the lattice I4 is lifted to free thearms from their seats on the frame and thereby expose the entireinterior of the ventilator unit.

In installations where the provision of a bracket screw fastening is notdesired, the grill work I 4 may be detachably associated directly Withthe frame 9. One suitable construction for this purpose is shown inFigures 5-7. In this arrangement, annular bead H is provided withrecesses as previously described, but with apertures 24 extending intoor through the bead beyond the recesses. The respective apertures areadapted to receive ears 25 which project outwardly beyond the seatengaging portions of the radial arms N5 of the lattice grill. In thelattice pattern disclosed in the drawings, two of the ears 25 are madeintegral with their respective arms and the third is arranged so that itmay be retracted and thus withdrawn from its aperture in order to freethe lattice from the annular bead H. The retractable ear is illustratedat 26 in Figure 7. This ear resides against the inner face of the radialarm and is slidably mounted thereon by means of a latch pin 21. The pinpasses through a radially extending slot 28 situated near the end of thearm, and includes a latch knob 30 at its outer end. The inner end of thepin is fastened to ear 26 and the knob made larger than the slot 28 inorder to secure the latch as a unit to the arm. The inner end 3| of car26 is bent laterally from arm 16 and is in engagement with a yieldablespring member 32 which is fastened to the arm l6 by a screw 33. Thespring therefore urges the ear 26 outwardly. To remove this grill unit,the latch knob 30 is pulled in- .5 wardly, thereby withdrawing the ear26 from assembled with the frame by inserting the fixed ears on two ofthe legs in their recesses and reengaging the latch ear with itsaperture.

Having described my invention, I claim:

1. In a ventilating fan of the type comprising an air duct memberadapted to be installed in a building wall, and a fan unit disposedwithin the said duct member to effect the flow of air therethrough, agrill comprising a frame adapted to reside facially against the buildingwall in which the said duct is installed, over the end of said duct,said frame member having the central opening therein correspondingapproximatel in size to the end of the duct, a lattice member having a,

central hub and having arms extending radially therefrom, the said framehaving socket depres-' sions therein constituting seats for theextremities of said arms, the said lattice member being demountablyassociated with said frame member over the central opening therein, andadjustable means confined within said hub for holding said arms inabutment against the socket depressions of said frame member.

2. In a ventilator fan of the type comprising a duct adapted to beinstalled in the wall of a building and a fan unit for inducing th flowof air through said duct from one side of the wall to the other, animproved grill comprising a frame adapted to reside in facial engagementwith the surface of the wall in which the duct is installed over the endof said duct, said frame having an opening of substantial area in thecentral portion thereof, a lattice adapted to be mounted over theopening in said frame, said lattice comprising a central hub portionhaving arms extending outwardly therefrom, the said arms being adaptedfor support engagement with said frame at points adjacent said openingtherein, and a single fastener located at said central portion of saidlattice for removably holding said lattice against said frame.

3. An improved grill for a ventilating fan comprising a frame adapted toreside facially against a wall of a building over an aperture in saidwall which contains a ventilating fan, said frame having a continuousmarginal bead delineating an opening of substantial size in the centralportion of said frame, said bead having recesses therein at spacedintervals along the inner edge thereof constituting seats, and a latticehaving outwardly extending arms removably residing in abutting supportengagement with said seats, the

said lattice constituting a barrier over said opening to prevent thepassage of foreign objects therethrough without obstructing the passageof air therethrough.

4. A grill for a ventilating fan of the type comprising a duct adaptedto be installed in a building wall and a fan unit mounted in said duct,said grill comprising a frame member adapted to reside facially againstthe building wall over the end of said duct, said frame having anopening of substantial size in the central portion thereof, areinforcing member of bead configuration in cross section extendingmarginally about said opening and having recesses along the inner edgethereof at spaced intervals therein constituting seats, and a latticemember adapted to be removably disposed over said opening, said latticemember comprising outwardly extending arms having their extremitiesconfigurated for support engagement in the said seats of said frame, anda single fastener at the central portion of said lattice for exerting acompressive force thereon to hold the extremities of said arms incompression against said seats.

WALTER A. SPEAR.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,739,082 Simmons et al Dec. 10,1929 1,792,514 Spear Feb. 17, 1931 1,961,497 Klomparens June 5, 19342,310,453 Mitchell Feb. 9, 1943 2,355,836 Willey Aug. 15, 1944 2,473,325Aufiero June 14, 1949

